The Thing Is

The Thing Is by Kathleen Gerard    299 pages

Meredith Mancuso (aka Meredith St. John) is a successful romance writer. But since the murder of her fiancé three years ago, she has barely written. Heck, she’s barely lived. She’s become reclusive and clinically depressed. Her lonely relative, a sister, Monica, notices but as she’s a workaholic, she doesn’t pay much attention.

It’s tax season and accountant Monica is swamped. One of her best clients, Helen Hendrix, has broken her foot, and needs help taking care of her Yorkshire terrier, Prozac. Yes, he has a tendency to be a bit neurotic. Monica is too busy to give Prozac the attention Helen insists that he have, so Monica foists him off on Meredith.

Meredith can barely take care of herself, much a dog that requires a lot of attention. To make matters worse, Prozac has a social schedule that would rival Paris Hilton. But the difference is, Prozac is a certified therapy dog and must keep his appointed rounds. His main focus is the independent living facility, Evergreen Gardens. The folks there look forward to his weekly visits.

I found the parts of the story that switched to Prozac’s point of view interesting, but really, they could have been deleted without hurting plot line.

I shouldn’t have laughed at Meredith’s inadequacies but watching her cope with Prozac was funny. Meredith begins to come out of her shell; it’s not that her heart still isn’t broken into eleventy-jillion pieces; it’s that she no longer has the time to nurse her broken heart.

I enjoyed The Thing Is quite a lot until I got to the ending. Every story should end leaving the reader felling that is the only outcome. Author Gerard pulled a cheap trick with her ending, there are several alternative endings, but the only she relied one is ill-conceived and left me wanting to throw the book against the wall.  This book was headed for a 5-star rating, but the best I can do, based on the inappropriate ending, is a 4.